We regret to have to record the death of Professor
William James, Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University. Originally a student of medicine, he taught comparative anatomy and physiology for several years at Harvard before embarking on the study of psychology and philosophy which gained for him a world-wide fame. His scientific equipment lent him authority, while his remarkable literary gifts secured for him a wider hearing than that accorded to any other living philosopher. Of late years his name has been chiefly associated with his persuasive exposition of the doctrine of Pragmatism, by which the value of any assertion that claims to be true is tested by its consequences, i.e., its practical bearing upon human interests and purposes,—a doctrine which he derived from C. S. Peirce at Cambridge (Mass.) in the early "seventies." Of the permanent value of this doctrine it is too early to speak. But there can be no question of the impetus which he lent to the study of psychology by a combination of qualities which placed him amongst the foremost thinkers of his time.
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